Forest Blues
by Elysium Plus
Summary: Seran the Eevee wakes up in an unknown forest, how will he fare in such a hostile environment?
1. Seran the Eevee

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any trademarks of Nintendo. The story is my own work.

_A/N: Alright let's get this train rolling again. This was meant to be another lemon, but the more I wrote it the more I realised I could do something with it. I may write a separate piece based of these characters down the line which will be placed in the lemon section. This the first chapter of perhaps five or so. I got this idea when a friend of mine invited me camping, I knew the location well and decided it would be fun to write a story about it. Also forgive me for making this another eeveelution story. I promise I'll TRY to write other Pokemon for the next one...  
_

_**Forest Blues.**_  
_  
Fire. My vision was filled with the horrifying view of fire. Everywhere I looked all I could see was pain and death. I was only capable of watching as my home was obscured by the stench of smoke and I was left with but one option. I ran, the flames chasing me into the night._

I woke up; I could hear the leaves rustling gently above me. Upon opening my eyes I could see the outline of pine trees against the night sky, where was I? My head hurt badly as well as my chest, I missed my family. Inspecting my chest I found that I was badly burned, I Imagine this was the reason for my headache. I rose myself on all fours to get a better view of my surroundings. I was thankful for my eyes ability to see at night. However as far as my eyes could see there were only pine trees. They were evenly spaced and each was a perfect bill of health, I felt unnerved as I peered around this strange forest. There were absolutely nothing else around apart from pine trees. What the hell was going on?

I didn't get much time to think about it, at that moment I heard a loud angry voice.  
"YOU! Get out of here, I've told you before you're not welcome here. I'm giving you five seconds before I burn you to ashes."  
I was told before? I turned to look at the voice, a large and very angry Arcanine was death staring me from a small distance. The look in his eyes spoke a very clear message to me. Leave. Now.  
With no more encouragement needed I took off at a blinding speed. I spared no thought for my direction or the throbbing pain coursing through me. I must have done something to piss off somebody. I noted the Arcanine had given chase despite his generous offer to let me leave. I guessed that I had ran in the wrong direction and was getting ever closer to whatever he wanted to keep me away from. I was deciding to change direction when I heard a faint trickling to my left. The second I realised the source I praised my good luck and tore off to the left. The sound got louder and louder as the Fire dog got closer and closer, He was right in my tail as I dived off the edge and plunged head first into the creek. The water had saved me, the Arcanine dared not follow me into the depths to retrieve his sport and instead he cursed at the shoreline before disappearing back into the pines.

The water felt nice against my burn and even partially relieved me of the headache that had been building. The creek was fast running and soon I was swept down it a great length, I passed the last pine before I was met with the sight of pure natural forest, with all kinds of plants, trees and animals covering the landscape I was able to relax, I had escaped the weird pine forest. I turned to catch one last look of the pine forest, at the boundary I saw a fence with a sign reading "Warning: Private property" the strange forest was a human plantation! Naturally I would have been chased out, as an Eevee our fur catches on any plant we come across, spreading the seeds across the whole forest. The plantation owners must have gotten sick of removing all the unwanted vegetation on the plantation and hired a fire type to deal with the intruders.

I realised with a start that I had let my mind wander for too long, I heard the rapids in the distance, felt the pressure under me pulling me down. I tried the best I could to reach the bank, but the rapids were too strong for me. I plunged over a submerged boulder before being dragged under in the wild currents. My headache returned this time aided by a lack of oxygen and exhaustion. I couldn't struggle any further, the only thing I was able to do was wish as my mind fell to a delicate state between conscious and unconscious.

The pain I was feeling faded to a numb sensation, at this point all I felt was a dull pain when I hit another rock as I was swept along the creeks depths, soon even the feeling of movement faded away. I was alone descending into the darkest reaches of my mind, I saw my family. My parents, brothers and sisters all staring back at me, the looks on their faces read but one emotion, sorrow. They were sad that I had died. It was my sister who stepped forward, she sat herself in front of me.  
"we'll miss you, Seran." with that, my vision faded into darkness. The thought slowly dawned on me, I was going to die here, under the flow of an oblivious stream. The thought of death the only thing left on my mind I slipped further into the brink until even I too was lost in darkness.

A blinding pain shook me awake, my entire body burned like it had been filled with a potent corrosive acid. My lungs burned as I inhaled as much as I was physically capable, desperate to have oxygen fill me. I began to struggle as best as I could as I opened my eyes, they too burned the second I opened them with an intense pain, in my state I somehow managed to roll myself off whatever I was lying on before roughly landing my side on a very hard surface. I screamed as the impact caused an even greater pain.  
"Whoa take it easy, that herb is some particularly nasty stuff, but it will fix you right up."  
Even with my eyes burning what they were I was determined to gain any kind of understanding. I forced my eyes to the direction of the voice. Despite my effort the only thing I saw was a flash of blue before collapsing back to the ground. I took a gamble and decided to trust the voice for now. I stopped my desperate struggle and thought back to what had happened to me. I had drowned, I should have died. Why was I still alive?

I lay there for what seemed like hours waiting for the pain to recede. As I lay there with nothing better to do I became aware just how warm my body was, it seemed to be radiating an amazing amount of heat. I could only reason it was part of this herb the voice had mentioned.  
"Oh, I think you've just started responding to the herb." I recognised the concern in the voice and felt a little better about my situation. I felt pressure on my chest, I figured whoever had rescued me was checking my temperature.  
"Yeah, that's the reaction. Alright I'm going to go catch us some food, It won't be long before you will be able to walk and trust me, after your body is forced to heal like that you're going to be very hungry."

I heard a splash and then, nothing. Nothing at all. The pain I felt until now started to dull, my breathing lost its laborious gasp and returned to its regular state. My surroundings came into focus. I was in a small cave. I looked around with interest, I had never seen a cave before. Only two features really caught my attention though. The first was a large flat boulder packed with leaves. I could only assume that was what I had fallen off earlier. The other interesting feature was a small pool of water on the far side of the cave; I noticed the pool created the only source of light in the cave. I remembered that I heard a splash when my mysterious rescuer left, It dawned on me that I was staring at the entrance.

Staring at the cave on my side was getting a little dull for me, my pain had seemly vanished while I had been thinking so I rose from my side and moved to the pool of water, aided by the light of the water I probed my body for any signs of injury, I was delighted when I found none. I peered at my reflection to check if my fur had re-grown. What I saw sent me into shock. My adolescent body had grown, I was now in the body of a full adult. My reflection showed I had a full mane draping my neck and shoulders. I thought about my mane and realised It meant that I had lost just under a year's worth of memories.

A ripple on the surface of the pool brought me back to reality. Despite my crisis I needed to make a decision, It would be rude to leave without thanking my rescuer however my instinct told me to run while I had the chance, I peered into the water. It seemed I not be escaping without help. Just below the surface the water flowed at an incredible speed, this cave must have been right in the middle of the rapids. Before I got a chance to think of a solution I felt a familiar sensation in my stomach, I was hungry. With the promise of a meal I was helpless to my own hunger. I decided to stay.

I only had to wait a minute or so before I saw a bright blue figure surge to the surface. It had moved so quickly I barely had time to move out of the way of the pool. Before I had a chance to finally discover my mysterious rescuer a rather large live fish was placed in my mouth. As much as I wanted to know the identity of my rescuer the fish I had been given was too enticing. I spared no thought as I tore my meal to shreds, my instincts took control for that moment and I found myself unable to process any thought other then satisfying my hunger. After a few minutes of devouring my meal my hunger was satisfied as I was left staring only at the skeleton of the fish. It was at this point my curiosity returned and I looked up at my rescuer.

Before me sat a Vaporeon. About twice my size, the tone of the Vaporeon told me that it was a she and also that she was impressively strong. despite my extremely hungry behaviour the expression on her face registered calm and understanding, I felt a little guilty for ever doubting her motives.

"Heh, don't feel guilty about eating the fish before thanking me, that herb really messes with your hunger drive, in fact If you hadn't been fed anything after a few minutes you would have gone crazy to the point of attacking anything that moved." I sat there for a few seconds absorbing what I had just been told. Eventually I realised that I still hadn't thanked her.  
"Thank you, for all of this. Without your help I'm sure I would have died."  
"I was happy to help. in all honesty I only found you by accident, I was strength training in the rapids when suddenly I get a face-full of you. You scared the crap out of me!"  
I grinned sheepishly, there wasn't a whole lot I could have done to prevent that. Still I figured while I had the chance I would get some questions answered.

"So uhh, where is this place?"  
"You're in my home love, an underwater cave I chanced upon during my strength training. Really I couldn't think of a better place to live, It's close to everything I love and I never have to worry about intruders. Come to think of it you're the first creature that has been in here since I took up residence."  
Once again I was left processing the information I was given, she must be stronger even then she looked to be able to carry me and herself up the rapids to this cave, I made a mental note to never anger her. I thought of one last important question.

"This forest, do you know of any Eevee families? I've been separated from mine."  
"Eevee families? sorry no, Eevee don't live around here, you'd think we would because there is a Leafeon stone nearby. To tell you the truth you're the first of my species I've come across in years."  
I was stricken with fear at her words. The forest I grew up in you could walk for less than 5 minutes before coming across another Eevee. The Leafeon stone as well, The forest I knew didn't have one. I tried thinking of possible scenarios, However I could only think of one."  
"Something doesn't fit about your story, normally an Eevee such as yourself would have left to start his own family by now, why are you looking for them?"

I explained my situation, the best I could. She seemed as surprised as I was when she heard I had lost a years worth of memory. During the story I broke down. A great loneliness overtook my mind, I was really never going to see my family ever again. My ears drooped and I collapsed to the floor, defeated. My tears flowed freely, my last few hours of torment claimed my emotions and I felt helpless like never before. I could feel the Vaporeon comforting me by curling up next to me, however her warmth and kindness did nothing to soothe me. I fell asleep, my dreams roaming along dark and unwelcome paths.  
_'we'll miss you, Seran.'_

_A/N: Well there you have it. It's a little shorter then I was hoping but that's ok, I'm sure the next chapter will be much bigger. Oh and for the record the camping grounds as far as I know doesn't have any underwater caves or dangerous rapids, just fun rapids. also don't kill me for using the 'I can't remember shit' plot device... please?_


	2. Cliffracer

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or any trademarks of Nintendo. The story is my own work.

_A/N: Sorry to keep you waiting for the second chapter. Sorry for the length once again, I intended to write a much longer chapter but I realised the irony of leaving the story on a cliff-hanger. I PROMISE The next one will be longer._ Seriously.  
_**  
Forest Blues. Ch2: Cliff-Racer.**_

__I lay there, I forced myself to not move. I could have moved to my rock and slept comfortably but something held me to where I was now, I wouldn't leave him. He was shattered, everything he knew and loved had been taken away from him and he didn't even know why. I could feel him restlessly shifting in his sleep next to me, his breathing was laboured slightly. Undoubtedly he was having a nightmare. I didn't have the heart to wake him, He'd had enough trouble getting to sleep to begin with. I wanted to help but I didn't know where to begin, his situation was difficult. I promised I would figure some way to help him in the morning, my mind had become clouded and I needed sleep as well. I sighed as I stared at my rock, I wish I could have been there instead.

I awoke to find I had curled myself around the Eevee in my sleep, my maternal instinct must had kicked in during my sleep. Looking at him closely I noticed his relaxed expression. I realised that a year ago it would probably been his mother looking after him in such a manner. I smiled, I much preferred this look from the pained expression I saw yesterday. It was nice to be able to provide him with some kind of comfort. I unravelled myself without disturbing him and stretched my muscles. I could see the pool of water, this time of the morning it was very bright. The sun rose at an angle that allowed the light to bounce off the bottom of the creek and directly into the cave, no matter how many times I saw it the glowing surface was always incredibly enticing, begging me to breech its depths. The Eevee would be fine here by himself. I was going to find some breakfast for the both of us.

I plunged myself into the water and took off down the rapids. I had something very specific in mind for breakfast, hopefully It would brighten the Eevee's mood. The schools of fish scattered as I sped past. This time they had nothing to worry about. The water felt wonderful this morning, It must of rained during the night to produce such a clean view. It didn't take me long to get to the area of the creek I was looking for, it was wide and remarkably deep. During a drought I could always count on this part of the creek to have water. There were creatures here that knew that well and never left this area. I dived deep until the light began to thin, it was here I would find what I was looking for.

I scanned the bottom of the creek and moved lightly, once eel knew you were there they could hide within seconds. They were impossibly hard to catch unless you could be discreet. I moved further down, keeping myself hidden behind large rocks until I was sure I would not be seen. There! On top of a boulder I could see one, A perfect size for two hungry eeveelutions I smiled as it lazily drifted along the surface of the large rock. I gripped the rock I was hiding behind before tearing over it. Any advantage the eel had was lost and I hit before it had the chance to panic. With breakfast secured I made the way back home, lazily fighting the current.

I had timed my arrival perfectly, the Eevee was just stirring from his sleep as I entered. I placed the eel down in front of him.  
"Good morning sleepyhead, feeling better this morning?"  
"I'm surprised to say it but yeah, I feel much better."  
I smiled, I'm pretty sure I knew why.  
"By the way hun, I never caught your name. I'm Tess."  
"I'm Seran, It's nice to meet you Tess." He smiled as he looked at me, soon however he began sniffing and adopted a vacant stare. I laughed. Eel often has that effect on anyone who hasn't eaten it before.  
"Well I'm not cruel enough to see that look and deny you breakfast."

After we were sufficiently fed, I decided It might be a good idea to show Seran around a little, since he was now in this forest, he should probably know the area. Getting Seran out of the cave proved a little tricky, Since his near-drowning he had developed a fear of water. I solved the issue by suggesting he ride on my back until we were at the shore. The additional weight in the water wasn't difficult to cope with and soon we drying ourselves off in the sunlight, of course Seran needed much more drying then myself, short hair was a big advantage there.

I planned to take him up the creek to the plantation, if you took a left once you got there you would end up at a cliff over viewing the whole area. He agreed knowing more about the area would be good. The walk went on in silence for quite some time, the only noises that could be heard were the creek and the occasional bird call. Despite his apparent weakness I was surprised that Seran could keep up so easily, on a closer inspection I noticed that he made absolutely no noise when he moved. I was surprised to say the least. His movement was fluid and graceful, like he wasn't even attempting to be quiet.  
"Umm, why are you looking at me like that?"  
My eyes snapped to his, I hadn't noticed I was staring.  
"Oh, sorry I was watching how you walked. You're very quiet."  
His expression showed surprise. So he wasn't aware after-all.  
"I didn't notice. I was just walking." He kept on walking, however the look on his face was pensive. I realised he was now paying close attention to how he walked.

The plantation loomed in the distance, The towering pines looking as intimidating as ever. The way they grew, it just seemed a little... unnatural. I veered to the left and began walking the perimeter of the fence. I became aware of Seran's eyes on me. It took him the lesser part of a second to notice he had been seen.  
"So, how did you come to live in this place?"  
His question caught me off guard. I assumed I was going to get an apology. Still there was a lot of ground to cover and I was getting a little sick of the silence.  
"Hmm. I suppose it all started when I was just a child, you see I was born in the city."  
Seran had never heard of the city, I had to spend some time describing it. After Seran got the gist of it I continued.  
"My mother abandoned me, she was a trainer's Pokémon, used to fight in competitions. She had a bastard litter and her trainer left us in the city before moving on. It was tough there, eventually I lost contact with my brothers and sisters, we were scattered across the city. I hated every day I spent there, our species was rare and I was constantly avoiding being captured. Even so it was a tough choice to leave. I ran for days. Once I found the forest I never wanted to leave, It might seem strange to you but food growing off trees was not a commodity I was used to.  
Seran looked a little saddened from the story. I flashed him a smile.  
"Hey don't worry about it hun, everyone has hardships in their life."

Seran flashed me a smile, however his eyes drifted in the direction of the pines.  
"Something wrong Seran?" The second I finished talking I could feel it. Suddenly it was hotter then before. A bright orange figure appeared within the pines, and it was approaching very quickly.  
"You again, I'm getting damn tired of you always showing up where you're not wanted." The Arcanine's grin clearly showed otherwise. He looked ruthless. Being a water type I had a distinct advantage, however somehow he looked far too strong for me. I looked at Seran, he nodded at me.  
"LEG IT!" Seran took off at top speed, I followed as fast as I could. Arcanines were fast, somehow we were faster. I found it a little amusing to see the glowing figure disappear along the horizon. I was amazed by Seran's pace as he tore over the landscape. It was a challenge to keep up. Clearing the edge of the plantation we were sure the Arcanine had given up. We both continued to run at a slower pace, the wind felt nice as it rushed by. I remembered the Arcanines words. Suddenly I had a thought.  
"when I first rescued you yesterday, you were covered in burns?"  
"...I was running from him yesterday when I ended up in the creek, I don't even remember getting burnt."  
I was surprised, Seran must have gotten cornered. It was the only explanation I could think of.

We were getting close to the Cliff, The last stretch was a fairly heavy climb. Running was no longer possible. We used tree trunks to propel ourselves up the mountain. Eventually however we managed to scale the mountain. I knew it only a few meters ahead. You had to be careful you didn't accidently walk right off the edge without knowing it.

The forest preserved right until the edge of the cliff, there were only a few meters to space before the whole mountain opened up. Spanning across the whole horizon was nothing but forest, I could hear Seran gasp at the sight.  
"Pretty isn't it?"  
Seran was only able to nod, his eyes were as big as dinner plates and his mouth was hanging open. I sat there for a long time with him, pointing out the various points of the mountain that were of interest. Each site sent Seran further astonished. Eventually I came to the reason I had brought him here.  
"Do me a favour, look off the edge of the cliff"  
Seran gave me a suspicious look, none the less he looked over the edge and peered straight down.  
"Can you see it?"  
Seran looked intently over the edge for a full minute.  
"No, I can't see anything, there's nothing but cliff."  
"Is that so, alright. Close your eyes. Maybe you'll be able to feel it."  
I got another strange look but once again he obeyed.  
"...that's strange. I feel really calm, but it's like it's directed from somewhere."  
I Grinned. So he could sense it.  
"I'll give you a hint, it's halfway down the cliff and it transforms Eevees into Leafeons."  
That got his attention, His eyes snapped to mine and his jaw dropped.  
"You know, I always wanted to be a Leafeon. How the hell am I supposed to get down there?"  
I knew one way. I took a good look at him, At first glance he looked fairly weak. Could he really do that? But I remembered how well he could run, that endless energy. Surely he could survive this. I motioned for him to look over the edge again, while he was distracted I slid right up next to him.

"Why, like this of course!"  
I tapped him over the edge with my tail. A horrified look crept over his face.  
"WHAT THE FU-"  
He didn't have time to finish his sentence before plummeting downwards. Cliff-Racing only works if you have the adrenaline kick to pull it off, and there was no way he would jump unless he was forced. I threw myself over the edge before bounding between rocky outcrops. Soon I had caught up to him, he wasn't travelling very fast clawing at the air so it was fairly easy. I could see that he had noticed me and decided to lead by example. I made my movements slow and drew that out as long as possible, bounding from each outcrop he quickly caught on, he angled himself to catch the wind just right before his first landing. He hit with perfect accuracy and bounded himself to his next target. I was surprised at his apparent skill. Bounding over the top of me Seran sped down the cliff.

As much as I wanted to race our target was close approaching. I tapped the side of the cliff with my tail to let him know I needed his attention, the second I knew he was watching I pointed to the large green stone embedded in a large outcrop. He got the idea, there was one more trick he needed to learn though. I shot ahead towards the stone, I made sure he would be in the right place to see how I would land, if he didn't do it just right he would end up with a nasty injury.

I placed my paws over my head and aimed them directly at the stone, the second it hit I flipped my tail downwards causing me to roll over the surface of the outcrop. The roll took out most of the momentum and I was able to dig my claws into the stone to still the rest of my movement. Seran was clever, he mimicked my technique perfectly, unfortunately a little too late. I had to run to the edge of the outcrop and grab him to stop him going over. As I pulled Seran back onto the stone his expression was pure shock. His breathing was erratic and it was all he could do to breath for a few moments.

After regaining his composure his look of shock was replaced with a shining smile. It said more to me then I was hoping for. I shared in his smile, The excitement of his incredible feat rubbed off on me as well. Eventually our smiles died down and Seran turned his attention to the stone. He walked up to it and placed his paw on it. Nothing at all happened.  
"Isn't this thing supposed to turn me into a Leafeon?"  
"Hmm I always thought, There's probably a trick to it. You can feel it right?"  
"yeah, This close to it, it's pretty relaxing."  
"well, try concentrating on that feeling."  
Seran closed his eyes, The look on his face was completely blank, he must have concentrating as hard as he could. I watched eagerly. For the longest time nothing happened, then Seran began to glow slightly. His face was screwed up and he was sweating. I grew a little concerned. Still I remained quiet. It would probably be better if I didn't interfere.

Suddenly Seran's glow got a little brighter before disappearing completely. He collapsed to the ground. I ran over to him. The second I got a good view of him it was clear to me, his energy was completely gone. He must have used it all trying to get the stone to work.  
"What happened?"  
He looked at me meekly.  
"Looks like I'm not becoming a Leafeon today."  
"That's alright hun, the stones not going anywhere. I'm sure you'll crack it one day. More importantly how are you holding up, you look exhausted."  
The smile on Seran's face returned.  
"I'm going to need a minute to rest before we move on, We still have half a cliff and the walk back right?"  
I smiled while pointing to a creek nearby the bottom of the cliff.  
"We're not that far from home."

_A/N: See what I mean, literally they're on a cliff... Well I thought it was funny._


	3. The Barren Forest

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any trademarks of Nintendo. The story is my own work.

_A/N: Well I spent quite some time on this one, Somehow I wrote the first 1,500 words in probably about an hour and spend the next few days finishing. Bloody writers block. Anyway enough yapping on by me. Get to reading!  
Edit: Fixed a few spelling and grammar errors.  
Edit 2: bunch of redundant sentences were pointed out to me by an anonymous reviewer on /vp/, thanks bro. All fixed.  
Edit 3: Somehow a sentence got corrupted and I accidentally removed the last sentence when I fixed up some errors last time._

_**Forest Blues. Ch3: The barren Forest.**_

I opened my eyes; I saw a faint blue illuminate the cave as I got up and stretched. I could see Tess sleeping on her rock as I made my way to the pool. I plunged into the cold unforgiving water, as always I relied on a mind path I had developed and made my way to the bank. It was too early in the morning so there was no sunlight capable of drying me. I wasn't bothered, I would be returning to the cave momentarily. I had stepped on Tess's hospitality one too many times.

I weaved my way through the various plants scattered around the forest before coming back to the shoreline, my mouth filled with an array of different berries. Once again I braved the rapids and used my mind to find the entrance. I placed the berries at the foot of her rock and made my way back to the edge of the pool.  
"...Goodbye, Tess."  
For the last time I left the cave.

It had been a week since I had first been rescued. Every day I made my way to the Leafeon stone. Once again I would attempt to transform myself. This always ended with the same result, I would expend my energy and pretty much ended up dragging myself back to the cave before collapsing. A couple times I had to wait outside the entrance of the cave for Tess because I was too exhausted to swim to the entrance. This was one of the reasons I had left; I was a waste of space, a burden on her perfect existence.

Once again I made it to the shoreline; I took off at a run up the creek. In no time at all I approached the plantation and took a left. The cold air had dried me and I was able to run faster, the excess weight from the water had gone. I was sure I would come across the Arcanine again, but as always he would have no chance of catching me. Just as I finished the thought I felt a heat radiating from some unknown source.

I saw his dark mirthless smile ahead of me. His body was radiating a large amount of fire. His stance told me he was ready for a fight.  
"I've got you now, you little runt."  
He charged mouth aflame. His speed was amplified and he became a blur travelling in my direction. I only stood my ground because I knew I was faster. I waited until the last second before bounding to a tree trunk and clearing his height before continuing my run to the cliff. I smiled as I heard him curse. My smile was wiped off my face as I felt an incredible heat sensation behind me along with an intense light. I turned to see what had happened and saw a large star-like explosion. I trembled as terror took over my heart, If had been hit it would have been instant death.

I wasted no time getting away from the Arcanine, I was sure I had never run faster in my life. With a move like that I knew I'd have to find another way to the cliff, this path was no longer safe. There was no hope of surviving something like that. I continued my sprint all the way to the cliff. I could see the sun on the horizon as I made my way right to the very edge. I could see it, the green stone embedded in the outcrop. I could feel the calming spirit emanating from it. I allowed the calming feeling to relax my nerves after my encounter.

I took a graceful leap off the edge and bounded from outcrop to outcrop, all I could hear was the wind as I charged over the vertical landscape. The sunlight was bright and occasionally I was forced to rely on memory to reach the stone. Even without seeing it I could feel the stone gradually becoming closer. With only one outcrop to go I positioned myself to land just as Tess had taught me.

I landed cleanly and immediately moved to the stone before pressing a paw to it. Closing my eyes I cancelled out everything apart from the constant relaxing flow of the stone. I made my mind mirror the calm. Soon I could feel the stone becoming an extension of my paw as if the nerves had suddenly extended into the stone. Any sense that linked me to the world was lost in comparison to the stone. My bodies own feelings cast aside as though they were insignificant I was lost along the flow of the stone, its relaxing sensation the only thing I could register.

I stayed in this state for some time; exploring every extended nerve, searching for perhaps the one that would work. I couldn't even tell if I was even using the stone correctly but I kept on going. I had no other choice. Exhaustion was building up in my body; I had to find the right nerve fast. I kept searching and finding absolutely nothing.

Despite my strong will I could no longer ignore my body's exhaustion and removed my paw from the stone. The nerves attached to my paw stung in pain, as if they had just been sliced cleanly in two. My exhaustion suddenly became much more real and I collapsed next to the stone, I was out of breath despite not having moved my physical body at all. I felt frustrated. Searching this stone was going to kill me. I placed my paw on it a second time and once again felt my nerves extend into the stone.

During the course of the day I repeated this process, searching every corner of the stone for the part that could evolve me. The sun was setting as I reached the last nerve in the stone. It was the same result. Absolutely nothing happened. The frustration that had been welling in me since the start of the day reached its peak and I silently fumed while recovering on my side.

The second I was able to I jumped to my feet and charged angrily up the cliff-face. I had searched the whole damn stone and come up with nothing. Why did it refuse to work for me? I was hungry and exhausted. I was ready to give up. There was no reason for me to stay here anymore.

I reached the top and continued down the steep path of trees. I didn't know where I was going, frankly I didn't care. So long as my muscles continued to burn I could get stronger. My surroundings became unfamiliar but I kept on running. I would keep running until I collapsed. The sun was replaced with the moon by the time I was unable to take another step. I ignored my hunger and lied down on the forest floor. The noises of the forest were my only company; I made do with the moon for a friend as I closed my eyes.

It was still dark when I regained consciousness. I felt uneasy, something was off. My muscles screamed in protest as I rose to my feet and peered around. I couldn't see anything that would suggest I was about to be attacked. However what I did see was just as concerning. The entire landscape was dead. There was no life of any kind; every plant had been stripped of its leaves, left dead for only my eyes to see. I noticed with shock the sky was pure black; not even the stars were visible. What lay before me was a barren forest.

I ran, hopefully I could escape the horror of what I was seeing but everywhere I turned was the same dead landscape. All I was capable of now was panic. Where was I?  
"Where are you? This would be my home."  
I turned and saw something that could only be described as gruesome, a Leafeon stood before me. Any leafy appendages were dead and crumbling. It was skin and bone. I recoiled a little in disgust. He smiled slightly.  
"You look rather hungry; could I offer you an apple?"  
I hadn't realised it but my hunger was quietly taking over my mind. I nodded.  
Seemingly a large fresh apple appeared right before my eyes.  
The Leafeon waited until I had finished devouring the apple before speaking again.  
"There now you look as good as new."  
I felt much better after eating the apple.  
"Thank you, I didn't realise how hungry I was."  
"You're welcome young one, to answer your first question. Your physical body is sleeping and I have drawn you into my dreams."  
His words left me dumbstruck; I didn't doubt he was right. The landscape was definitely not where I had fallen asleep. One thing that disturbed me is that I hadn't even begun to ask the question yet.  
"You asked the question, when you first came here."  
He was right, but how did he know that?  
"To answer that question, you and I have had our minds paired together a lot recently, I know your thoughts. I think with just that you can figure out my identity."  
I thought hard at his words. He seemed to think we had joined our minds together? What a ridiculous concept.

I kept on thinking of many scenarios until something in my mind clicked. I had been attempting to evolve myself using the stone but that would mean...  
A smile crossed his face "I am the stones spirit? You are correct."  
Once again I found myself dumbstruck by the Leafeon. A terrifying thought crossed my mind, if he was the stones spirit why was his world dead. This time he didn't react to my thought. I needed to know.  
"If you're the spirit here why is this world dead?"  
"A dream world is based off its creator; I brought you into my perception of reality."  
"So, you're dead then?"  
"To be frank I am close to death, Every time you poured your energy into the stone extended my life slightly. I apologise for abusing the energy you possessed for such a purpose."  
I was extremely angered by his words. This entire time I was capable of becoming a Leafeon, his greed caused me to continuously push my body beyond its limits.

I controlled my anger as best I could. I was shaking with the effort. There had to be a good reason.  
"Why, why would you do that?" I asked calmly but my face was contorted from anger.  
"Somebody has to protect this forest; it was a job only I could do at the time."  
I calmed down slightly; it wasn't greed that possessed him to steal my energy.  
"I'll be blunt. I was removing your energy as a test. I lost my body a long time ago so I don't have the means to protect this forest anymore. Please, having seen your strength first-hand can I entrust you with this responsibility?"  
I went from anger to pure shock. I looked into his eyes and I knew he was telling me the truth.

I would be the protector of the forest; the concept was certainly foreign in my mind. I recalled the last memory I had before I came to be in this forest. My home was burning, the whole forest was set alight and I was powerless to do anything about it. I was sick of being powerless, of being unable to help.  
"I want to defend this forest."  
He smiled.  
"Then come and find me again."  
With that the vision faded to a mist before finally turning back to darkness.

I snapped awake, the sun was setting. I must have been asleep for almost a day. I checked myself over and realised just how hard I had pushed my body. I rose to my feet, every muscle along the way giving me notice of their grievances. With shock I realised that my hunger was gone, I hadn't eaten for at least a day and a half. The only conclusion I could come to was that dream was far more real then I could have imagined.

I had to find my way back to the stone. I had a problem though, in my rage I hadn't paid any attention to where I was going. I was lost amongst the forest. I walked around until I found a tall tree, scaling its length I found myself above the forest canopy. In the very far distance I could see a large square patch of forest with nothing but pine trees, bingo.

I used Tess's Cliff-racer method to avoid crawling back down. On landing I felt a strong sting of protest from my muscles. My body was overworked; I was going to have to take it easy. I strode off in the direction of the pines. I watched the sun set through the trees as I strode over the landscape. I welcomed the light of the moon when it came along. Eventually the Plantation loomed just ahead. I walked the perimeter until I came across the creek. I took the left and began walking to the cliff. I could see the hill rising to the cliff in the distance, I smiled. I was nearly there.

All of a sudden I was on my back, my vision was shaking and every muscle in my body was burning. I could see a horrible smile above me.  
"Hmm, you look surprised to see me, well surprise runt."  
The Arcanine said the last word while pinning me to the ground. His weight alone was too much to bear. His smile widened horribly as I winced from the pain.  
"Someone is sore today, have you been training runt? That's a change."  
Despite his violent behaviour something was off about him, suddenly I realised. He talked like he knew who I was.  
"Don't you go passing out on me; I won't get to watch your pain. When I get bored, I move on to killing."  
He added more weight to his paw. The burning sensation could only be considered a raging inferno of pain now. I could tell this was what the Arcanine loved most. I despised him for deriving pleasure from torture.  
"That's right, you're worthless. No wonder my trainer abandoned you." He raked his claws across my face. I was barely conscious, but he had just given me a vital clue. The pain was overcoming my mind but I made a mental note for later if I ever survived.

My remaining strength was leaving me; I could feel my mind being absorbed into the void. Despite everything that had happened to me, I would not give up.  
"Heh, I may be weak but you're ugly."  
I felt a second paw placed on my chest before the Arcanine leaned in, causing more weight to be brought down on me.  
"What did you say, runt?"  
"STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM THAT EEVEE!"

I felt the Arcanine's weight get thrown off me. With my shaking vision I saw Tess unleash a great stream of water. She caught the Arcanine off guard and hit him square in the chest. The Arcanine was sent flying before smashing into the nearest pine. He rose shakily to his feet. Before he had a chance to counter-attack Tess had taken to the air before bringing her tail down on his head. Tess's surprise attack had him completely outmatched. There was nothing he could do but retreat. As he ran through the pines I heard him call.  
"You and that bitch, I swear I will kill you both."  
"Bring it, mutt."

I could feel the Vaporeon make her way over to me.  
"Damn it Seran. Why did you leave like that? I was worried sick."  
I was barely aware of her words, I forced myself to remain conscious and answer.  
"...Burdening you...need to get back to your old life."  
Tess didn't look too happy with my answer.  
"Look you're too hurt for this right now. I'll take you back to the cave, I have medicine for you."  
Her offer sounded welcoming, however It wasn't what I needed right now.  
"...Please, take me to the stone."  
"What? Why the hell do you want to go there now, you're half dead!"  
"...Please?"  
There was conflicting emotions on her face. I knew she would have to carry me. Once again I had to ask too much of her.

"On one condition, do not die."  
I managed a weak smile before nodding.  
I was drawn onto her back and she took off, with moonlight her only guide she expertly scaled the steep hill before coming to the cliff.  
"Alright hun, grip tightly."  
I tried my best to double my grip around her as she went over the edge and down the cliff face.

Her landing had me worried she couldn't dive out with me on her back. I could only trust she knew what she was doing. When we reached our destination I was bucked off her back and landed cleanly on the outcrop, she disappeared from view only to jump to other outcrops before returning and executing her landing. I rose on shaky feet; Tess looked alarmed and quickly moved to my side. I ignored her. This was something I had to do myself.

I limped to the stone before moving my paw to the stone. The second it touched the entire world vanished in an instant, only to be replaced once more with the barren forest. I could see the Leafeon before me, he smiled at me.  
"This forest belongs to you now." With that he faded from my vision and I knew he was no longer among the living. The barren forest began to glow slightly; on the horizon I could see it. The sky was no longer a black void, the sun was rising. I began to see green. Starting with the dead plants around my feet, every plant in an ever expanding radius around me began to grow. I could only stare in amazement as the entire forest began to react to me. The barren forest had transformed from a dead landscape to a lush forest. Life adorned everything that I could see.  
"Don't worry; I'll take good care of it."

I opened my eyes with a smile. The paw I saw on the stone was not an Eevee's paw. I only saw the paw of a Leafeon. I inhaled deeply. I could feel it, the whole forest was alive. The sun was rising on me and I felt wonderful like never before. The gentle sun's rays beat down on me and completely refreshed my mind and body. I turned to see astonishment on Tess's face.  
"Well look at that, Good morning Leafeon."  
I smiled.  
"I'm sorry for leaving Tess; I was a burden on you. Everything you've done over the past week has been completely selfless; I couldn't stand imposing on your life anymore."

Tess's expression was unreadable.  
"Seran let's get one thing straight, you were never a burden. I helped you because I was lonely; your company for the past week has been a wonderful change to my life. Living with you is something I'm not giving you a choice about."  
Her words slowly dawned on me. This whole time I was helping her. Just by being there I was repaying my debt to her.  
We shared a smile before moving to the edge of cliff.  
"Come on Seran. Let's go home."  
For the first time her words felt right to my ears. I wasn't just going back to the cave. I was going home.


	4. Inside the Plantation

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any trademarks of Nintendo. The story is my own work.

_A/N: sorry for the delay, I actually ran out of ideas for this one and had to spend a week figuring how what to do with it. on a brighter note I have the last chapter planned out from the get-go. It's not going to be up super quickly though. My brain is a little fried from this chapter. I'm going to relax for a couple days before the grand finally. Anyway you have this chapter to enjoy in the meantime so get to it!_  
_**  
Forest Blues. Ch4: Inside the Plantation.**__  
_  
I was lying on a branch in the forest. There was nothing disturbing the peace other then my breath on the air. I liked it here, sitting under the calming movements of a swaying tree branch I could occasionally feel the sun break through the mass of leaves only to rest on me instead. I knew the sunlight wasn't real but that didn't make it any less pleasant to see and feel. My own personal forest lay out before me, providing an ideal place to think. Many topics went through my mind as I watched the sun set, but there was only a few in my mind that I spared more than a moment for.

I thought about my powers, somehow I had not only evolved, I could dream a whole forest while I was asleep. I wasn't complaining about that at all, mostly nightmares had greeted me even when I was young so a calm forest was certainly a nice change. My powers were still developing. I had no control over them and occasionally I found myself using my powers without noticing, in fact yesterday I had woken up to Tess and myself pushed up against the walls of the cave because it had become packed with leaves. Tess had found this incredibly amusing for the better part of 5 minutes before she realised the amount of effort we would need to go to getting the leaves out of the cave. It had consumed our whole day getting the cave back in order.

My thoughts wandered to the Arcanine, he knew something about my past. I knew he wasn't going to talk about it if I just asked him, if I wanted information I could only see myself fighting him. How had I come to lose a years' worth of memory. The Arcanine had said I was captured by humans, had I truly been someone's pet? Why the memory loss then, what could have caused that? The more I thought about it the less sense it made. This wasn't something I could figure out with what I had now; I could only hope the Arcanine knew enough to put me on the right track. All of a sudden I felt pressure on my chest; it was strange as I couldn't see anything that could be causing it. The forest started to blur around me until it disappeared.

"GOOD MORNING SLEEPYHEAD!"  
I jolted awake at Tess's paws on my chest; I could see a distorted image of Tess grinning at me with a fish in her mouth.  
"This time I didn't bring you any since you get your energy from the sun now."  
The second Tess had finished talking my stomach started rumbling. I stared at Tess, She stared at me. There was nothing for it but to smile weakly.  
"Uhh, I guess being in the cave all day yesterday meant that I got no sunlight."  
Tess laughed.  
"Come on, I can eat outside."

I felt much better in the morning sunlight; it was a strange effect really. I still wasn't used to dispelling hunger just by sitting there. I got a funny look from Tess as I angled my leaves to lay flat against the sunlight.  
"Oh come on it can't still be funny, I've been doing this for a week now."  
"I can't help it, you just look so dumb. You look so much like a plant I'm surprised I haven't tripped over you at some point."  
I rolled my eyes at her childishness and continued absorbing sunlight. Once we were both satisfied Tess suggested we go for a run. I gladly agreed as my muscles were still sore from spending the entire of yesterday cleaning the cave of leaves.

We took off at a run upstream once again. Even though neither of us had said anything we both knew this would end in a race. I was going to win today, even if Tess decided to cheat and dive into the water. I had no idea how she could fight the rapids and still be faster than me on land but today wasn't going to be her victory. We sped up under the pretence of getting a better workout but I knew what was about to happen.

"I'll see you up there." Tess said with a smile, she moved to the water's edge.  
"Like hell you will!" I moved away from the bank closer to the trees.  
That was it, Tess dived and I jumped a tree trunk into the canopy, my speed easily doubled as I tore over branches and leaves, I didn't even have to look where I was going. I could simply tell where the next branch would be. I leapt above the canopy and spread my leaves, the energy I absorbed kept my fatigue in check and I could easily keep up my speed when I landed. Tess didn't have a hope in hell of catching me like this. I dived out of the canopy and Jumped to a rock sticking out of the middle of the creek. I stared downstream and waited. Within a second I could see a bluish blur traveling in my direction and smiled. This time I had really beaten her.

I saw Tess jump out of the water in my direction. I smiled and waved, unfortunately Tess didn't have her eyes open. I realised one second too late what was about to happen.  
*BAM*  
we collided head on and ended up sprawled out at the bank of the creek; I didn't think I broke anything in the fall but my head was bleeding a little. I looked up and saw Tess was rubbing her own head.  
"Urgh, what the fuck was that?"  
Tess looked up and spotted me with my injury. Her mind took less than a second to figure out what had happened.  
"Seran you idiot." was all Tess managed before adding a second paw to her head. Why didn't I wait at the side of the creek? Any good feeling I had from winning was wiped out by my searing head pain.

We needed a minute to recover from our mishap, I spread my leaves once more and Tess moved to the water and submerged herself to all but her head. The second I was able to think clearly I found a question I wanted to ask.  
"Your eyes were closed? What was the deal with that?"  
Tess dropped her head a little, as if she was embarrassed.  
"Well, this might sound a little dumb but when I swim I just seem to know where everything is. I could navigate through just about anything as long as there is water involved."  
I was astounded; it was exactly the same as my method.  
"T-That's exactly what I do."  
Tess's expression betrayed astonishment.  
"I've only learned to do this recently; I first noticed I could do this when I rescued you."  
Tess looked me over, I felt a little uncomfortable under her piercing gaze.  
"Maybe I should spend some time showing you how to use your powers properly. Your typing may be different but there are a few things in common I can teach you. Besides I don't want to wake up with leaves everywhere again."  
My eyes widened and I nodded in excitement. Ever since I became a Leafeon I still hadn't managed to use any grass power except by accident. I moved close to Tess so I could listen carefully to her lesson.

"Ok first up you have to understand that most of your powers are created with your mind and controlled with your body. For example; you have been using Synthesis to an extent, what you didn't know is how much your mind plays into it. Simply concentrating can increase the effects of a power dramatically; any emotion you feel can change the behaviour of the power. Be careful of your emotions."  
Tess closed her eyes and demonstrated her power over water by raising a small orb of water out of the creek. Suddenly the orb became hair thin and formed a neat bow before returning.  
"First I want to you to think about your synthesis, go ahead."

I became aware of my leaves in the sunlight. I could feel them doing their work, my head had stopped bleeding and I could no longer feel any pain at all. Tess's demonstration had me compelled to try her method out. I closed my eyes and blocked out everything except the energy I could feel my leaves absorbing. Just like that I could feel the reaction grow much stronger, I heard Tess gasp in excitement.  
"Your leaves, they're glowing!"  
I couldn't see my leaves at this point, but I did seem to be producing a glow. I felt happy that I could grasp this method so easily. All of a sudden I could feel a large amount of power welling up inside of me. I panicked, what the hell had just happened?

I was later told by Tess that my whole body started to glow a brilliant white until I collapsed. The glow had remained for several minutes before disappearing and many of the small plants I had collapsed near had burst into flower.  
"To be honest I was surprised how much power you contained before collapsing… I'm sorry Seran maybe I should have told you how to get rid of your excess power first. Let's try again. This time, focus your energy on something. It is the simplest method of transferring raw power. Oh and this time, guard your emotions, I'm guessing you had a change in emotion before your incident."

It was surprisingly easy to regain my well of power in the sunlight, this time along with concentrating on synthesis I also stared at a nearby tree. After several seconds I could feel energy transferring from me into the tree. The tree seemed to perk up slightly before gaining a slight glow, I concentrated a little harder. Suddenly the tree burst into life with fresh leaves adorning it in an instant. Tess's Grin stretched from ear to ear.  
"Absolutely flawless Seran, now concentrate on a second object like a rock or something but I want you to regard it with anger instead of just recognising it."  
I followed her instructions and found a suitable rock near the tree. I concentrated all of my hate towards the rock. Suddenly I knew what was about to happen, the old leaves on the tree detached themselves leaving the new ones in their place. They began a formation of kinds, aligning to face the rock the leaves raced towards it before crashing into it.

I broke my concentration and moved up to see the damage I had caused. All of the leaves had embedded themselves deep within the rock. I touched one of the leaves and was surprised when I received a small cut from one of them, in the process of transferring energy the leaves had become razor sharp.  
"There you go Seran; let's see someone try to take you down when you can surprise them with that. Keep in mind you will have to show the same concentration during a fight to pull off the same feat."  
I couldn't help but smile. This was amazing; it made me wonder what else I could do with my newfound power and so I spent the next few hours experimenting while Tess continued her strength training in the rapids.

I found my power could do all sorts of things with nothing more than concentration and emotion. I could temporarily strengthen my body, I could channel energy back into my leaves and transform them into incredibly hard and sharp forms and I had even managed to slice a rock clean in two after a little practice. My body could produce leaves and I found I could easily control them mid-air. During my training I became aware of a well of power within me, even when I wasn't absorbing energy it was there; ready to be tapped into at a moment's notice.

We left for the cave when the sun started sinking towards the distant mountain. We took the rapids down as it was faster and less exhausting then walking. It was funny to think I had once drowned in these rapids and now I could swim through them like they were nothing. Reaching the cave we both decided it was time to get some shuteye; I lay down and closed my eyes.

I found myself in my forest once more, this time the forest seemed much healthier than ever before, everything around just seemed to radiate energy. I found that just by touching a plant or a tree I would cause it to grow. I settled myself amongst a favourite grove of fragrant plants and fell once again into deep thought. Now that I had a decent grasp on my powers I think it might be the time to pay the Arcanine a visit, he knew something and this time I had the ability to get it out of him. I resolved to pay him a visit in the morning; it was time for some answers.

When I woke I told Tess I was going for a walk before diving out the entrance, I didn't want to worry her with this. I would hate for her to get hurt on my account. I made it to the shoreline and started a sprint to the plantation. Thanks to the morning sun I was able to store energy while running. In all honesty I didn't want to hurt the Arcanine but I knew that unless I did he simply would not talk. Rather than just walking along the fence I jumped its boundary and began a slow walk towards the cliff, I'm sure he would be hiding around here somewhere. It was strange, in the few steps I had taken into the plantation I could feel my energy ebbing away. I ignored this as anxiety kept myself steeled for any sign of his arrival. It only took a minute before an all too familiar sensation of heat crept up on me. I pretended I hadn't noticed and kept walking slowly. If this was going to work I was going to need the element of surprise.

"Hey asshole, those signs apply to you as well. Get out."  
"Oh I'm sorry about that, I'll leave immediately."  
Perfect, he didn't recognise me at all. I walked in the direction of the fence line but I knew he couldn't resist chasing a new target. This was it; I focused everything I had into raising my strength. I heard his movement change. He was barely a foot away from me when I turned and tackled him square in the chest, causing him to topple over backwards. I didn't give him the chance to recover as I pressed a leaf blade to his throat.  
"Where is your trainer?" I asked slowly and seriously. His eyes narrowed at the question. It was only after a 10 second staring match that he responded.  
"You're the runt aren't you?"  
So, he had me figured. It didn't matter, he would tell me no matter what. I put more pressure on the leaf blade. It was then I felt an intense burning, despite my determination I was forced to abandon my advantage.

The Arcanine's body blazed with fire as he quickly got up, he was smiling maliciously at me as he advanced. I saw a circle of fire surround him and knew I had only seconds to spare; I focused my energy into my legs and dodged the resulting explosion by diving up a tree. With sufficient distance between us I focused a large amount of pine needles and shot them directly at the Arcanine, this time I had him. Those needles were razor sharp even before I strengthened them. Unfortunately the Arcanine was stronger than I had predicted and simply created more flames, the pine needles disintegrated before getting anywhere close. It was a clever defence. I had only one option now; despite the pain that I would be in afterwards I had to do this.

I focused with all of my might on my own body once more; I leapt from the tree with all the strength I could muster before smashing into the Arcanine. I could feel the burn but I didn't let up and unleased anything that would cause damage to him, pine needles swarmed him and I used leaf blade to hurt him as much as possible. I could feel the burning heat taking its toll on my body, in a last ditch attempt I focused energy into the leaf adorning my head and made a large cut across his face. That had done it; all of a sudden he collapsed. His flame died out and I was left the victor.

There was no smile on his face anymore, all I saw was fear. I advanced on him until our faces were less than an inch away.  
"Where is your trainer?"  
His eyes bulged at the question this time.  
"He's in the middle of the plantation with the rest of the humans."  
Of course, I can't believe I hadn't thought of that sooner. I left the Arcanine amongst the pines and tore for the center of the plantation. As I ran I attempted to use synthesis to heal myself. It was at that point I realised just how much damage I had taken from the fight. My leaves were half gone, burnt away during the fight. I found myself in a state of panic as I ran, how was I supposed to get energy now? My breath became laboured and I could not keep up my speed. I slowed to a walk; it was the only movement I could manage at the moment. I felt truly disheartened, without my leaves I couldn't absorb any energy.

I could see a clearing up ahead and moved towards it. I saw a small building and a semi-trailer; I could only assume the truck was used to transport the cut pines. One thing that surprised me is that I knew what they were. I could never remember seeing one before today. I saw the door on the building begin to open and dived behind the nearest pine. Two humans emerged from the building. There was no talking between them as they jumped into the truck. I refused to let such a chance escape me and made a mad dash to the truck while they were distracted. I made my way to the roof as the truck shuddered into life before driving down a long road.

I could feel the sunlight on me as the truck drove. It no longer felt good to be in the sunlight, it was harsh against my burns causing them to be ever slightly more painful. I rested wearily on the roof for a short time. I could hear the humans strike up a conversation about the weather before moving on to other equally uninspiring conversations. Suddenly I perked up; I could have sworn I just heard the word 'Eevee'.  
"Oh the Eevee? He ran away. Good riddance I say. He was useless as all hell when it came to battling, not that he ever listened to me in the first place. I captured him because he was the only Pokémon who outran the fire; I figured he might be a good battler. In the last forest I was assigned to there was a family of Eevee would not stop causing trouble for us when we tried to start a plantation there. We ended up having to abandon the area. I got my revenge though; just before we left I had the Arcanine start a nice big fire and-"

My mind reeled back and forth from oblivion to reality. I could remember it all. Everything in a single instant came right back to me, the horrors of my life unlocked to my mind. When I was just a kit my family had worked to avoid their forest being destroyed by the humans, just as it seemed like they had won there was a bad forest fire and we had to abandon our home. My parents had lost their lives trying to protect us from the fire but only I had managed to escape. I took one last look at my home before leaving that life behind.

I was captured by the humans soon after, their road had no trees and provided safe passage to outrun the fire, unfortunately for me the humans knew this as well. I barely saw anything in the haze before I had been struck by the truck. When I woke up I apparently belonged to one of the humans. I hated him for what he did to my parents. He always regarded me coldly; to him I was never anything more than a tool for him to battle with, a toy for his own amusement. I figured this was what I deserved, my entire family was killed and I was the one who survived. I should have died like the rest of them. So I stayed and allowed myself to be used by this monstrosity of a person.

The human had brought me here, to this forest. It was the first time I had ever done anything other than fight. I was placed on the back of the truck along with a Pokémon I didn't know. I was regarded with contempt; he said I didn't need to be there, he alone was going to protect his trainer. At that point I couldn't tell why, I felt an intense hatred towards him. It was only once we were amongst the plantation that I figured out why.

The Arcanine had dismounted the back of the truck. Out of boredom he set a nearby plant on fire. The second his flame connected to the forest I could recognise it, it was the same fire. It had claimed the lives of my family and now it was claiming this forest. Something within me had died in that instant of time. I lunged at the Arcanine, uncaring about his strength I put all I had into an attack. There was nothing I could do, he dominated me within seconds and breathed fire onto my chest. It wasn't meant to kill me. It was an insult; I wasn't worth fighting seriously with. My mind shattered, the same thought invaded my mind until it was a wailing scream snuffing out any form of rational thought. I was completely useless. So I ran, ran away from everything.

My mind slowly pieced itself back together. I could see my surroundings; I was back in the middle of the plantation. The truck had long since been for its rounds and was quite immobile. It was amazing that I had not been discovered lying on top of the truck. The sun was setting. I must have been in this condition for some time. I made my way off the truck and headed for the cave. My mind was a jumbled mess. My only thought was being able to tell Tess what had happened to me, she would know what to do.

I reached the creek within the plantation and dived in. The water was extremely welcome to my burns and with shock I realised I was in the same situation as only a few weeks prior. The rest of the trip was a blur to my mind. I somehow survived the rapids and reached the entrance I swam with my remaining energy until I burst forth from the small pool.  
"Tess I-"  
Tess wasn't there. I was surprised at first but I figured she must have been out hunting. I collapsed to the floor and inhaled deeply, my muscles were screaming in protest from the swim back and I didn't have the energy to support my own weight anymore. Suddenly a sense of dread washed over me. I could smell it very clearly. I looked down to confirm my worst fears. I could see blood.


	5. I will rescue you from death

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or any trademarks of Nintendo. The story is my own work.

_A/N: Urgh, once again sorry about the delay. A huge storm rolled in and knocked out the phone tower responsible for providing me with internet, I wanted this story to be out for eevee day but shit happens. On the plus side I went to the creek while it was badly flooding. Me and a friend spent half an hour walking up the creek and the rest of the day moving down the rapids. It was a fun day!__****_

Forest Blues. Ch5: I will rescue you from death._  
_  
My mind and my body were at their limits, I was frozen to the ground and my mind was running an endless loop of the same thing. _Tess was dead, Tess was dead, Tess was dead_. Every time the repetition played it became louder and more real. My eyes wandered to Tess's painfully empty rock, its leaves undisturbed. For a second an image came to my mind of her lying on top of it, just like she would have if none of this had ever happened.

I studied every single leaf on that rock; I wanted this inscribed deep into my memory. What happens then others are brought into my life. It was then I noticed something, there amongst the leaves a small round object laid. I tried to get up but collapsed immediately, my mind however was resolved. Using only my front two paws I dragged myself across the cave floor, ignoring intense pain from my injuries I did not stop until I was at the base of the rock. I forced myself onto my feet; my own weight was far too much for my muscles to bear. I begged for them to hold out long enough. I managed to take the object before once again obeying the crushing forces of gravity.

I looked at what I had been left with. My heart sank, far from finding a clue or anything else worthwhile I was left staring at a berry. A cruel smile spread across my lips when I recognised the colour blue. Was the whole world mocking me? I spent some time staring in hatred at the berry before it slowly dawned on me. A memory of my parents filled my vision; a banquet of berries lay out before me. I remember pointing to the blue berry; intrigued by its odd colour in comparison to the rest I had wanted to know about it. It was my dad who answered me.

_That's a Rawst berry, they're hard to find but they can be used to stop damage from burns._

It took me a minute to realise the significance of this; Tess wouldn't just have one of these lying around. A flicker of hope filled my mind; somehow she must have known this was going to happen. It was like a sign, the berry sang me a simple message. _Come find me._

The effects of the berry were quick, within minutes I found I could walk quite easily. I was tired beyond belief but I refused to let it overtake me, not when Tess might need me. I didn't know how exactly but this time I would save her. All I had to do was find her; I plunged into the cold dark water before resurfacing along the shoreline. Everywhere I turned was the same. I sat and faced the creek and thought about where Tess might have gone.

All I could see was the water in front of me passing by. I realised with a start that I was staring at the answer. I could have kicked myself in my stupidity, she would have taken the creek upstream, for one she could travel faster underwater and secondly she knew the route perfectly.

I started moving upstream to the best of my ability. I found I was able to run but only barely, my movement was slowed by a distinct lack of energy. Panic crept inside of me as I ran, I still had no idea what had happened. My only hope was to be able to figure out where Tess was; I didn't know how much time had passed since this had all started, all I knew was I had to search.

I came up to the plantation, the fence line harbouring all of the contained trees that I had come to hate. If Tess was truly following the creek then she would have gone into the plantation without even realising it. I crossed to the sign on the fence reading the usual 'Warning: Private property'. I was about to jump the fence when I performed a double take. There at the bottom of the sign was a small amount of blood shining in the moonlight. Upon closer inspection I realised the blood was in the shape of an arrow, pointing in the direction of the cliff. I could see the imprints of water around it. It had to be Tess, there was no other explanation. I ran in the direction of the cliff.

As I ran I became aware that my body was rapidly approaching its limit, my run slowed to a hasty walk. It was almost too devastating a blow to have my body quit on me now. I could only hope Tess would be able to wait for me just a little longer. I continued in my state towards the cliff, eventually I cleared the plantation and made my way up the steep slopes that joined to the cliff. The sounds came slowly to me at first and I had trouble recognising them. They only became clear to me moments before my arrival. It was the sound of fighting filling my ears however just before I was able to see the clearing the noises stopped.

I came to the clearing on the cliff. A mix of relief and fear washed over me at the same time, I could see Tess lying on her side,and covered in cuts she was bleeding everywhere. I could see both large amounts of water and burn marks across the ground where they had fought. She must have put up an incredible fight. It was then that her eyes found me.  
"Seran, you have to knock him off the edge, be careful he's-"

The Arcanine didn't give her the chance to finish before grabbing her in his mouth and throwing her into a nearby tree. I heard the collision and she landed in front of me, unconscious.

"TESS!"  
I charged, I found no power to call forth, I could rely on nothing but my own battered body to make sure that the Arcanine would pay for what he had done.  
"Too slow runt." With a quick turn the Arcanine struck me across the face and I ended up right next to Tess, the world around me was shaking violently. This time i felt pressure on my head. I struggled against the weight to no avail. On my side I could see a blurred paw coming ever so closer to my eye. Just before it struck me I heard the Arcanine say  
"Goodbye, runt."

I regained consciousness, the last thought I could remember in my mind was Seran making it to the cliff edge. Where his leaves used to be was replaced only with a charred outline. With shock I realised that he would not be able to fight, I was so stupid for bringing him here. I should have just let myself be caught and be done with it. I didn't know why I thought I could win when I saw what they had done to the Arcanine.

I could remember it clearly even now, I had gone looking for Seran, his 'walk' had stretched out far too long for me to wait anymore. If he was going to be anywhere it would be the plantation I was almost sure of it. After hours of waiting I left the cave and headed upstream. I surfaced near the boundary and spent some time searching for Seran, I was just about to give up and head home when I saw the Arcanine, he looked very much worse for wear. I knew instantly Seran must have done this to him but I couldn't be sure that Seran wasn't hurt. So I quietly followed him through the plantation, He was much too focused to notice me and it was fairly easy work, provided I gave him a wide birth.

The Arcanine came to an opening in the plantation I hadn't even realised existed. The second he got there he moved up to a temporary building before tapping it with his paw. I could see some humans open it and saw their shocked reactions to find him beaten up. They brought him inside and closed the door. I could see a ladder on the far side of the building and ran towards it before scrambling up it. I found a small sun roof on the top of the building and was able to peer down and see inside. I saw both of the humans tending to the Arcanine's injuries.

"Jeez the forest Pokémon aren't kidding around are they? I've never seen Bruce beaten up so badly before, it's the second time this week."  
I could see the Arcanine wince as a strange brown liquid was applied to a rather deep cut on his neck.  
"Listen Bruce, because this is important, do you think you can beat these guys? I need to know that our little business isn't going to be interrupted by more pissed off Pokémon.  
The Arcanine looked into the humans' eyes for almost a full minute before shaking his head slowly. The man sighed.  
"Alright Bruce, after your last little incident last time I picked up something for you, I was hoping you wouldn't need it but…"  
I watched closely as the human pulled a small tube from his back pocket. He held it up to the Arcanine. I recognised it; I had seen it used once in the city. It was an aggression hormone, completely banned in all Pokémon competitions because of how dangerously effective it was.

All of a sudden I knew that both me and Seran were in incredible danger, this Arcanine would easily be able to track us after taking that. I didn't stick around to see the inevitable happen; I tore for creek passing through the I would be able to come up with something, some plan to defend ourselves. With shock I realised that my panic had given away my location. I ran my absolute fastest, if I could just make it to the creek I might be able to slip away. I could hear the ragged breathing of the Arcanine as he easily matched my pace. I was almost there; I dived over the last few meters of land. Almost as I touched the water I could feel his jaws close around my leg and bite down. At the same Time I could feel the element closest to me calling out. I hit the water and without wasting any time I dissolved myself, freeing my leg in the process. I reformed just out of his reach before swimming downstream, I knew Arcanines hated water but in his current state it didn't even seem to faze this Arcanineand he began to chase me downstream.

It was only because I was in water that I managed to outrun him, I headed for the cave, I didn't know what good it would do but if Seran was there maybe we could manage something. I plunged above the surface and into the cave. To my dismay however Seran was nowhere to be found. I could feel my leg bleeding heavily. I had to think of something now, something that could Arcanine would be impossible to beat in his current state, but maybe I could still win. It was then I had come up with my ludicrous idea. I didn't even think about how I could get it to work.

I searched through my stockpile of berries, hoping to find anything that could help. I didn't have much time now, I was sure the Arcanine was close behind. It was then I spotted it, a small blue berry. I knew it was pointless to me, but maybe it could help Seran… I placed it on my rock, hopefully he would find it if he came here. There might not even be a reason for him to need it but I placed it there anyway, just in case.

It was then I felt the temperature change, I didn't give myself time to figure out a way to signal Seran and just left before the Arcanine found me, I raced upstream and almost got myself bitten by the Arcanine a second time. I somehow safely made it to the plantation; hopefully I had enough time to pull this off. I took some of my blood and placed a small arrow pointing in the direction of the cliff, I knew the Arcanine would see this and know where to find me. In the back of my mind I was hoping Seran would find this instead and come help me.

My leg burned as I tore across the landscape; I had to hurry as I knew the Arcanine would be right behind me. I scaled the slope and made my way to the very edge of the cliff. It didn't take long before I felt the change in temperature. I could only manage a weak smile; well here goes nothing.

Now we were at the end, I put up the best fight I could before I went down. It had simply not been enough to save us. My eyes fluttered open for a second and I saw Seran thrown right next to me. I could hear his pain as the Arcanine pushed his face into the ground. I saw Seran get hit one final time before he lost consciousness. The Arcanine smiled menacingly at me.  
"Go on, I want you to see him die."  
I found myself crawling up to him. It was all I could do to grasp one of his paws before I lost consciousness.

I was alone in the darkness; somehow it felt much too familiar. I remembered I had witnessed it once before when I was drowning, only now seemed a little different; almost like it was much more solid than before. There was nothing to do but observe the vast darkness in front of me. My vision drifted slightly, I could have sworn for just a moment... I concentrated a little harder. There, just a little further I could see a small amount of blue penetrate the darkness, it seemed to disappear just as it had arrived. It seemed somehow…friendly. I felt myself being drawn towards it.

Yes I was sure of it now; a blue glow was in front of me. I drifted closer towards it, as I did so it got brighter and brighter. Soon it was so bright I could feel it washing over me like water, I felt truly alive just for a moment. I drifted through the darkness into an incredible light. The feeling of water was magnifically real. I could see the sky above me and burst through the surface of the water, suddenly a wave of sensations washed over me, I became aware of my body, the full leaves adorning it taking in sunlight. I could feel sunlight being captured and transformed into energy, I could feel the well of energy within me return and I could have truly jumped for joy. The sounds of the forest filled my ears. My joy didn't last long, the memory of what had just happened replayed in my mind.

I made it to the shoreline before looking back. There was the creek. But it definitely wasn't like any creek I had ever seen before. The water was flowing, but only barely, where I had just emerged from just seemed to slowly melt back together as if nothing had happened. I felt the urge to run; even my personal forest had turned into a nightmare. I forced myself to stay, I couldn't tell why exactly but something told me this was important. I observed my surroundings. It was then I noticed something I definitely recognised. The Leafeon stone was sitting innocently nearby, I ran up to it and placed my paw on it. I felt a small amount of pain. I quickly removed my paw to find my blood smeared on it. I stared at the stone in disgust, even in my own dreams things wanted to sap my strength.

It came as a shock to me to find the blood changed shape slightly, revealing an arrow pointing upstream. It was the same arrow I had seen Tess make on the sign. This time I smiled. I started to run upstream, I didn't know what I was looking for exactly but I knew where it was. I ran for what seemed like days. The creek just seemed to go on forever; I knew eventually it would reveal its mystery to me. In the time I spent running the clear sky grew clouds. As the cold rain came down I noticed that the creek had started to thin slightly, I was getting close.

I was met with fierce winds and mass amounts of rain as I ran; nothing was going to stop me as I watched the creek swell up under the stress of the rainstorm. Fog rolled in and soon I was unable to see the path ahead, I pressed on even against this. I used the creek as a guide as I continued to run in the fog, by now the creek had become so small it could be called nothing more than a stream.

This time I battled nothing but pure cold and the fog but there was nothing stopping me from running. All I had to do was keep moving. Suddenly my vision cleared. Ahead of me was no longer a steam, instead my eyes traced the deep blue of Tess's. She smiled at me. I ran forward and embraced her in a hug. It was only after I finally let go did Tess speak.  
"Seran, we're going back, we still have a task left in the other forest."  
I knew what she was talking about; even now I could feel it tugging at my conscious.  
"But before we go Seran, I want you to see this."  
Tess pointed behind me. I turned around.

I couldn't believe what I saw, I was standing on the very top of an incredibly tall mountain, below me expanded an unbelievably huge forest, it was only now did I appreciate the gift I had been given by the old Leafeon, this forest belonged entirely to me. The forest just seemed to fill me;every leaf of every tree sung to me its beauty. As I stared I could feel the well within me expand, I was gradually filled with a power greater than I had ever known.  
"I always did enjoy it when you glowed like that. Seran I have a selfish request to ask of you. Unlike you I don't have any power left. I will only remain alive for a little longer. Please, hidden under my rock I have some herbs that might be able to revive me."  
I nodded at Tess.  
"I will rescue you from death."  
I saw her smile one last time before my surroundings faded.

I was lying on the ground, The Arcanine was in front of me but his attention was not focused on me. I saw him pick up Tess by her tail before casually tossing her over the side.  
"Heh, she thought she could kill me by knocking me over the edge? How about a taste of your own medicine _bitch_."

I rose from the ground, of all the emotions I was feeling, none of them was anger. I could feel simple logic take over my mind as I began to glow. He would die but only because if he didn't he would hurt more innocents. It was over; the Arcanine no longer stood a chance. I could feel the well within me swell up, more and more it grew until it consumed my mind, there were only two images in my mind. The first was the forest. The second was the Arcanine.

I saw the Arcanine turn around, his face registered surprise when he saw me standing. He quickly began to charge in my direction. It was then he noticeda pure green emanated from every single tree. I watched on silently as leaves began to flow forth from every area of the forest. The Arcanine stopped his charge and could only stare at the swarm that flowed forth, there was no running. He knew as well as I did that he had no hope of escaping this.

It only took a second for the Arcanine to be lost amongst the leaves, when they cleared there no sign that he had ever existed. It was only then that I dived over the edge of the cliff; I had to reach Tess before it was too late. There was no need for me to cliff race; I was carried by the leaf swarm much faster than I could have travelled down the cliff normally. After several agonising seconds I saw Tess falling further out from the cliff. I moved the leaf swarm to gently catch her as she fell. It was then I slowed our speeds to gently land at the bottom of the cliff. I ran towards the cave, the leaves still carrying Tess alongside me.

After an anxious run I directed the leaves to move Tess under the water and into the cave, from there I placed her safely onto her rock. I dived in afterwards and emerged in the cave. From there I moved to the other side of the rock and searched. I recognised the herb immediately and jumped up to the stone next to Tessbefore forcing the herb down her throat. There was nothing left to do but wait.

I could see her occasionally toss and turn during the night. There was no denying she was a fighter, it took me far too long to realise that she wasn't going to make it. It was past time for her to show a reaction to the herb and so far there was none.

I could see the sunlight on the water before I moved to Tess; I placed my paw on her chest. I could feel a faint heartbeat, she was as cold as ice.  
"I'm sorry Tess; there is nothing else I can do."

It was almost like I could feel her understanding flowing from her into me, I could almost see it. She was standing at the top of that mountain, simply admiring the view of the vast forest below. I smiled a little from the thought. It was then that I felt something; it was almost as if my nerves had extended into Tess just a little.

With excitement I realised what this could mean. I concentrated as hard as I could and poured my well of energy into her. At first nothing happened, I was almost heartbroken until all of a sudden her heart fluttered back to life in a strong steady rhythm. Her body temperature rose dramatically from my energy and I could see all of her injuries had healed in seconds.

She no longer had any need of my energy; I removed my paw and waited. It was almost an hour before I saw her eyes open. Her eyes saw the cave and looked around before coming to a stop on me.  
"…Looks like I made it Seran."  
I smiled at her.  
"Looks like you did."

Before she had the change to protest I dived into the water and resurfaced in the sunlight. Now that I knew she would be alright I had one more thing to do before I could rest, It was what was nagging me the whole time in my forest.

With my remaining well of power I healed my own body. I felt relieved to once again feel the welcoming energy from the sun flow into my leaves. It would provide everything I needed to make sure that the humans would never again harm this forest. I took off upstream with my leaf swarm. When I reached the plantation I issued just one command to the leaves.  
"Erase."  
I once again watched silently as the leaves of the forest removed the unnatural pines, the whole plantation disappeared from view behind the leaves. The leaves slowly removed themselves and I could see the result. The plantation had been removed in its entirety, what used to the plantation was nothing more than dead soil. I had an idea as to what to do with it.

The leaf swarm scattered. In the time the leaves had disappeared I closed my eyes and drew in as much power as I could. I could feel my body glowing brightly before the leaf swarm returned. Every single leaf contained a bounty of seeds which then plummeted into the soil. It was only then that I released my well of power across the ground. I watched in delight as what was once bare earth sprang forth life, the growth of a million trees and plants graced me and I could feel the cool calming atmosphere of the forest take hold of what was once the plantation.

I could only imagine Tess's face when she saw that the forest had been returned to what it once was, I would show her soon. In the meantime I saw a comfortable branch swaying in the breeze.

The end.


End file.
